Growing a successful digital media business with both feet remaining firmly in the community may seem contradictory, but the results show it’s a clear path to success. 

Behind the Brand showcases our innovators, entrepreneurs, small and large business owners, managers, leaders. 

It’s like a backstage pass into the real person behind the success. What makes them tick, what makes them successful. A peek at some of Central Otago’s smartest and most interesting people.

Learn their secrets, get hot tips from those with experience, and discover why you should support their venture.

Eight months ago, Vicki McLean took ownership of The Central App. For thirty years, she had been in senior executives roles in media, travelled the world, worked in ten different countries, had lived away from New Zealand for sixteen years, and she was looking for a simpler life.

“I had bought a place in Queenstown many, many moons ago, and I was based in Sydney; my initial plan was to find a way to live and work between the two.”

“Sydney was my head - working in media, planning and strategy, consulting globally and earning good money.

“But this place was my heart.

“As working long hours for corporates became less important, and lifestyle and family became more important, I had to re-think my plan.”

Vicki says her sister moved from NZME in Queenstown to a role in Southland, and she suggested Vicki come home and take on the Queenstown manager role.

“Autonomy and simplicity was the desire for the next chapter. So I took the role.

“It was a familiar comfy chair, something I’d done previously; it wasn’t stressful and it was something I could do to still add value.

“Working solo in the office gave me more time to get into the local community, instead of living in a corporate community - and I enjoyed it. I set up a group of like-minded people who shared a common interest of business and we found ways to support one another personally and professionally”.

Wanting to have two dogs, Vicki found a house in Alexandra on a block of land she loved.

“It was perfect for me.

“I moved to Alex, my parents live here, another sister lives here, and it was a place I’ve been as a visitor for years and wondered it if could become my forever home.”

From heels to gumboots - a re-think of priorities brought Vicki back to Central Otago.

Then COVID hit, and the NZME Queenstown sales office was closed down, so Vicki's position was made redundant, and with no interest of moving back to a corporate role in the city,

“I thought, what’s next?

“I helped out a few local business people with culture, strategy, sales and marketing, and worked on a psychometric testing project with a Sydney company I’m still a director of. I started to see that I could help others with my knowledge and experience without being tied to an office or commuting in city traffic to work. The online work lifestyle was attractive to me.

“I had coffee with Marielle to see if I could help in terms of marketing and branding for The Central App, and she came back and asked if I would be interested in buying the app as she felt it needed fresh energy, and it was her time to travel around New Zealand”.

Vicki’s naturally enquiring mind and sense for opportunity kicked in.

“It was like, wow, what does this look like?”

Vicki says having been an advisor, coach, she was quickly able to identify the opportunities the digital media business presented.

“I liked the strong foundations I saw, the connection it has to the community. It was like it fitted perfectly with what I was looking for".

“The App was well-liked in the community, it has great writers and stories coming out every day that are being well-read by a high percentage of local people.

“I thought, it’s like a well-built house with strong foundations, that just needs a bit of renovating".

“So for me, it was a no-brainer and I'm so grateful it worked for both Marielle and I, sometimes decisions are just about timing.”

Vicki says her focus in the first six months was to ‘live in the house’, look, listen, observe, discover what works well, and where it needed future proofed.

“I looked at the stats, had many coffees with great minds in our community, talked to others who own media apps, and asked: What do I need to change? What do I need to keep? What is the strongest foundation to build upon?

"One of the greatest strengths was Marielle actually staying in the business with me for the first few months. I was able to learn how it got to where it is today, which gave me greater respect for everything that had been done before I got here"

Her biggest challenge, Vicki says, is moving from traditional media into a solely digital medium.

“I’ve had to become really savvy with understanding everything digital, so I can ensure the best experience for our readers and businesses. I'm still learning every day!

“COVID sped up the uptake of digital, so we’ve got to make it easy and quick for our users to find useful information about Everything Central Otago in one click.”

“We know almost 40,000 people have The App on their device, so we need to continue to provide a news service that always delivers the truth, facts, accurately to our community, visitors and expats.

“Especially these days with so much fake news.

“Whatever we do, we need to be that credible source that people can trust.

“So, the biggest challenge for me has been bringing all that together - what the community wants, with what the app and our advertisers need to flourish - while also looking forward so we continue to evolve and keep people using us as their first point of reference in the future.

“It’s a matter of aiming to be a bit better every day.”

Vicki says she has been used to coaching other businesses, and it was easy to see things clearly with a fresh perspective from outside of the business.

“This is personal - I’m in the business this time".

She says, you’ve got to first be clear on your vision, your direction as a business.

“When you’re in business, we know you’ve got to absolutely know your purpose, your why, and then your how.

“The missing piece in my view to evolve a business to become current is getting input from and communicating clearly with every person in your team. I've always taken the view that every person in my organisation is a marketing channel. Let's face it, everyone has their own media company today. Add up how many followers your team have on social media. I did this exercise once in a larger company I was working with, and they had over 60,000! Often the internal marketing is skipped".

Her tip "Invest time in the team as they become your marketers, your advocates. The external marketing you invest in should just enhance that and align to your brands purpose / authenticity”.

Vicki said moving from the corporate world to a business with both feet firmly in the community has been positive.

"You don't have to be the best - you’ve got to aim to be a little bit better every day.

“Pulling together like that as a team and as a community, we grow together.

“And by pulling together, we help each other be a little bit better every day".